William Cook
William Cook (died 2 April 1824) was an English poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer born in Ireland.Henderson, 75. Life Cook was descended from an old family originally from Cheshire, but for some time settled in Cork. He was educated at Cork grammar school, and afterwards by a private tutor. At 19 he married a lady of considerable fortune, but squandered a large portion of it in pleasure, and lost nearly all the remainder in his business, that of a woollen manufacturer. In 1766 he left Cork for London with strong recommendations to the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Edmund Burke, and Dr. Goldsmith, whose friendship he retained through life. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1777, and for one or two years went on the home circuit, but already occupied himself chiefly with literature. His earliest publication was a poem on ‘The Art of Living in London,’ which met with some success. In 1807 he published another of greater pretension, entitled Conversation, in the 4th edition of which, published in 1815, he introduced the characters of several of the members of the well-known literary club in Gerrard Street, Soho, such as Burke, Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Goldsmith. The poem earned him the sobriquet of William "Conversation" Cook.William Cook ((1740 ca.-1824), English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, May 16, 2016. He died at his house in Piccadilly at an advanced age. Writing He was also the author of ‘Elements of Dramatic Criticism,’ 1775; ‘Memoirs of Hildebrand Freeman, Esquire,’ n. d.; ‘The Capricious Lady,’ a comedy, altered from Beaumont and Fletcher's ‘Scornful Lady,’ 1783; ‘Memoirs of C. Macklin,’ the actor, including a history of the stage during Macklin's lifetime; and ‘Memoirs of Samuel Foote, with some of his Writings,’ 1805, in three volumes. Publications Poetry *''The Royal Naval Review; or, A late trip to the Nore: Being a poetical epistle from Hodge in town to Dick in the country''. London: G. Kearsley, 1781. *''Conversation: A didactic poem, in three parts''. London: R. Edwards, 1796; London: Richard Phillips, 1807; London: T. Underwood, 1815 **also published as The Pleasures of Conversation. London: Henry Colburn, 1822. Play *''The Capricious Lady: A comedy''. London: C. Dilly, 1783. Non-fiction *''The Elements of Dramatic Criticism''. London: G. Kearsley / G. Robinson, 1775. *''The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D''. London: G. Kearsley, 1785; Dublin: R. Moncrieffe, 1785. Edited *Charles Macklin, Memoirs. London: T. Maiden, for J. Asperne, 1804; New York: B. Blom, 1972. *Samueal Foote, Memoirs: With some of his writings. (3 volumes), London: R. Phillips, 1805. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:William Cook 1824, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 16, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . May 16, 2016. Notes External links ;About *William Cook ((1740 ca.-1824) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 * Cook, William Category:1824 deaths Category:Year of birth unknown Category:18th-century poets Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets